World News - US army in Iraq institutionally racist, claims British officer

A senior British officer has criticised the US army for its conduct in Iraq, accusing it of institutional racism, moral righteousness, misplaced optimism, and of being ill-suited to engage in counter-insurgency operations.The blistering critique, by Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, who was the second most senior officer responsible for training Iraqi security forces, reflects criticism and frustration voiced by British commanders of American military tactics.What is startling is the severity of his comments - and the decision by Military Review, a US army magazine, to publish them.American soldiers, says Brig Aylwin-Foster, were "almost unfailingly courteous and considerate". But he says "at times their cultural insensitivity, almost certainly inadvertent, arguably amounted to institutional racism".... http://www.guardian.co.uk

“WHY can’t we live together in peace?”, read the graffiti written on a wall in Fallujah by a weary American soldier. Next to it a colleague had scrawled: “Die ragheads die!” The US military has struggled to improve the cultural sensitivity of its troops — often raw youths on their first trip abroad — since the start of the occupation when the first soldiers to hit Baghdad slipped a Stars and Stripes over the head of Saddam Hussein’s statue. Jittery superiors swiftly ordered them to replace it with an Iraqi flag. Long before the Abu Ghraib scandal, there were numerous examples of brutality and insensitivity by US troops to match tales of their courage. Sometimes it was purely a lack of local knowledge: a minor riot ensued when dogs — considered unclean in the Muslim world — were used to sniff staff entering the Oil Ministry. At other times it was the crudeness of combat troops thrown abruptly into a peacekeeping role. ...http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1981556,00.html#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=World

Sprint is taking heat amid accusations that it refused to help a California couple find an infant left in the family SUV that was stolen with the baby still in it. As The Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman reports, 11-month-old Wade Cochran was in a car seat in the vehicle when it was snatched from the driveway of his Riverside County home. "I was just so frantic to get our son back," Wade's mother, Stephanie Cochran, told Kauffman. "That's all I cared about. I was like, take whatever you want, just give me back my baby." Wade's father, Jason Cochran, had put him in the family SUV, and gone back to the house to get Wade's three-year-old brother, Blake. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/12/earlyshow/main1204014.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1204014

Five months after South Korea made international headlines for the world's first cloned dog, a leading researcher's misdeeds have left the nation's scientific reputation in tatters -- and may shrink its role in a stem cell industry to be worth billions. For Hwang Woo Suk, Seoul National University's finding that two crucial scientific papers were faked may end a career that peaked with claims of stem cells tailored to patients' DNA. For Korea, it cuts the chances of beating the U.S., the U.K., Singapore and China to breakthroughs that may yield cures for Parkinson's, diabetes and heart disease. Hwang's research was expected by a South Korean state institute publication to be worth 33 trillion won ($34 billion) by 2015, a tenth of the global industry. The country was highlighted as a world leader in a U.K. report last month. ...http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aqboWxbF8F8M&refer=home

Judge Edward Cashman should be the darling of conservatives: a churchgoer, a former prosecutor, a Vietnam vet and a member of the bench known for his hard-line stands: A decade ago he jailed for 41 days the parents of a suspect in a rape case because they refused to cooperate with prosecutors. In the past few days, though, Cashman has been vilified by conservatives on TV and on blogs. On Fox News, Bill O'Reilly told viewers as video of Cashman rolled: "You may be looking at the worst judge in the USA." And several Vermont Republican lawmakers have demanded he resign or be impeached. The reason: Cashman sentenced a child molester to just 60 days of jail time a sentence he said was designed to ensure the man got prompt sex-offender treatment but critics say was too soft....http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1500299&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Houston became the largest school district in the country on Thursday to adopt a merit pay plan for teachers that focuses on students' tests scores. By a 9-0 vote, the Houston school board approved a plan that offers teachers up to $3,000 in extra pay if their students show improvement on state and national tests. The program could be expanded to provide up to $10,000 in merit pay for teachers. The vote came after several teachers told the board during its monthly meeting they believed the plan was flawed and unfair because some teachers will be eligible for larger bonuses than others. "This is not a perfect plan but it is a beginning," said school board president Diana Davila. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-01-12-houston-merit-pay_x.htm?csp=34